Shadow-Land - Heather Parsons (bill gates book recommendations TXT) 📗

on the ground, when he tripped over something else, not sure what it was this time but caught himself before falling. Hearing them laughing only made him want to ripe their throats out.

Right when he reached the doorway, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. Feeling around with his hand to see what it was and bringing his hand back to the front. There was blood dripping off his hand and his head was throbbing with pain. Jake wanted to cry out but who would hear him and if they did, would they make it here in time.

The clouds outside parted giving enough light in the room to let him see who was in here with him. Finally seeing there faces as the darkness invaded his eyes and he fell to the floor. Hearing them whisper Sierra's name then passing out from pain. His mind screamed at him one last time to get up and get out, then it too was quiet.

EIGHTEEN:

The Police

AFTER Sierra was certain that Travis wouldn't disappear when she touched him. She fell into his arms and let him hold her together this time. He laid down beside her and she pulled herself closer to him. Placing her head on his chest and listening to him breath. She knew after a few minutes that he was asleep, his breathing slowed down to a normal pace. She couldn't sleep, not now. She was awake and still afraid that someone was after her.

The images of Simon and his voice were so clear in her head that she couldn't close her eyes. Sierra laid there trying to grasp the pain of losing everyone in her family. Her heart felt like it had been torn in two and even having Travis close couldn't heal it.

Sierra didn't want him to see her pain anymore, he deserved so much better. She sat up, sliding out from under his arm and turned to look at him. He looked so peaceful and she wished she could look like that too. Wanting so badly to kiss him and have him close to her again but she didn't want to wake him. Not when he finally is getting some sleep.

She slide off the bed with caution and turned around several times to make sure his eyes weren't opened. Finally placing her feet on the ground, she took one last look at her handsome prince and walked to the door. Opening it slowly and just wide enough to fit through, not letting the hallway light shine in and closing it behind her. She stood there until her eyes adjusted to the light before moving again. The closer she was to the stairs, the louder the voices were. She wondered who was downstairs and if it had anything to do with her brother. Shaking her head to release that thought and taking the stairs down slowly so she wouldn't make any noise. Sierra really didn't want to alert anyone that she was awake.

When her feet hit the carpet below, she couldn't remember why she had come down here in the first place. With one hand still on the rail and the other covering her mouth. Her breathing was louder than she thought and before she knew it, she was hyperventilating. The only officer Sierra could see from where she was standing just happened to be one of her father's best friends. And seeing him again brought another tear of her heart. Officer Marx was one of the officers there the day her parents were murdered. He was the one that she could have swore had tears in his eyes, seeing his best friend dead. These memories brought her to her knees, grasping for air.

"Sierra!" His voice rang out. As she wrapped her arms around her chest and looked up, she could see him running over to her. Reaching down, he gripped her shoulder's and brought her into a hug. Sierra could hear his soft cries and feel his tears on her shirt.

"Officer Marx, you have to help. It's Simon....he's...." Sierra couldn't finish what she wanted to say with her voice shaking so badly and her entire body feeling numb. She felt him hold me tighter and when he released his eyes told her things that he never wanted to speak. "Please..." Letting the tears run down her cheeks and wanting to wipe them away but she couldn't feel her hands.

"We've already sent someone over there. Just waiting for them to radio back with what they've found. Come and sit, you don't look so well." Sierra was a little relieved to hear that someone was looking but what did he mean she don't look well. Checking herself over, she didn't think she looked that bad.

I tried focusing on the faces around me but couldn't see anything. My mouth was dry and my words only come out in a whisper, "water." He sat her down in between Phillip and Kathryn and left the room. Leaning forward, she put her elbows on her knees and supported her head on them. Sierra starred in front of her, not focusing on anything at all and waited like everyone else for an answer to what they'd found. Officer Marx placed the water in front of her, on the coffee table and took a seat on the other couch. Close enough to her so if she needed him, he was there.

Sierra felt the pressure of movement on the couch and turned her head to see who had moved. Kathryn was still sitting with her head in her hands, crying softly to herself. Sierra wrapped her arms around her, putting her head on her shoulder and cried with her. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry." Kathryn whispered in her ear.

"You didn't do anything to be sorry for. Please don't put this on your shoulders, it's not your fault. Please Kathryn, your like a mother to me and I can't sit by and watch you do this to yourself." Sierra should be the one at fault for this. If she hadn't lost her focus that night Simon was at her house then he'd still be alive and safe. Of course she couldn't say this to Kathryn because she would insist it wasn't her fault either.

They all jumped when the radio crackled then went silent again. The officer in charge walked out of the room and Sierra could hear him talking into it. Not being able to make out what he was saying but it wasn't long until he returned. "They are still looking. Sierra were you in the house with Travis earlier?" He walked over to her and knelled down. Sierra watched him intently as he searched her face for the answer.

Her mind went into a rage, screaming and yelling at him but her voice was still no where to be found. Sierra shook her head no, not remembering the events from earlier. But it seemed that just then a light bulb went off and she needed to know something. "What is the date today?" Searching the room for a calendar of some sort but coming up empty. If today is what day she thinks it is then that would explain at least some of what happened. At least to her and maybe Officer Marx.

Sierra looked at the officer in front of her and he was shaking his head like he didn't understand the question. Turning her head towards Officer Marx because she was certain that he would give her the answer. "Today is May 13th, Sierra." With that said question answered Sierra could see that he saw the recognition of what that meant.

"What does today's date have to do with anything?" The officer in front of her asked, his tone becoming impatient. Sierra couldn't focus on his question, most of it she didn't hear anyway. Starring down at the glass full of water and wondering how many tears she had cried and if it would have filled this cup by now.

Her body started shaking harder as the date repeated itself in her head. "It's been six years to this date that my parents were murdered. And now Simon is dead on the same day and in the same way. It all means something, I just don't know what yet." To her surprise her voice was very clear but it sounded like she was in a tunnel, only hearing the echo of it. Reaching out for the glass, she couldn't see her hand and that made her look down and see it still at her side. Sierra tried again to move it but nothing happened. She felt no emotions at all. All the tears she had cried were dried up with no more replacing them. Her mind itself went as quiet as the room itself had. For the first time in her life, she wasn't thinking about anything.

"Chief Rollins, we've found two bodies. One is deceased and the other one is, hold on let me check, still breathing. We're calling an ambulance now." The radio crackled when they stopped talking. Everyone in the room was starring at each other while Sierra was still starring at the glass in front of her. Taking in slow and easy breaths still waiting for confirmation on who they were.

"Can you id them?" Chief Rollins said into the radio. Sierra noticed that he was slowly making his way back over to where she was. Searching her face again but this time she don't know what he was looking for. And she was sure that he didn't find whatever it was. Looking angry as he sat down in front of her, spilling her water over.

"The deceased one's name is Simon Michael, we found his id on him and the other one is Jake Cole. Chief, I think you should come here, there's something you need to see." The radio came to life at the same time her water spilled, and now she was screaming in pain. The water in the glass was like her lifeline and when it spilled out, she lost everything all over again. Grabbing her head in her hands, she screamed for her parents, for her brother and for the nightmare she had just had.

"Sierra, oh my god, Sierra!!" Phillips voice was only a whisper in her ears, never overpowering her screams. Her mind was whispering to her that she wasn't in that house alone, that it could have been her laying there instead of Jake. Why would he go there?

Sierra was trembling in fear, grasping the pain that was deep within and never feeling it before now. She had always feared that this would show itself and now that it had she didn't know how to reign it back in. No one in this room deserved to see her like this or hear this. But she couldn't get a hold of it and because of it, she had woken Travis. She could hear his footsteps coming down the stairs. Running in the room and stopping.

"Sierra